Our View: Step right up and claim what's yours

It sounds like an Internet farce. Millions of dollars are waiting for you to claim!

But in the case of the state of Louisiana, it's actually true.

The state is holding more than $10 million in unclaimed property belonging to thousands of Ouachita Parish residents who have yet to claim their portion.

Unclaimed property is missing money that becomes abandoned after a certain period of time. It typically includes old savings and checking accounts, payroll checks, CDs, stocks and dividends, insurance proceeds, oil and gas royalty payments, utility deposits and similar funds.

When a business cannot locate an individual the money belongs to, usually because of a wrong address, the money is turned over to the state for safekeeping.

No matter how long it's been since the unclaimed property was abandoned, Louisiana residents can come forward at any time and claim it, according to the Louisiana Department of the Treasury.

"Public awareness is a big issue, and we're constantly ramping up our efforts to get the word out about the program," said Jason Redmond, deputy state treasurer. "We travel to mall events statewide to return unclaimed money, publish the names of individuals who are owed money annually in newspapers across the state and work to increase awareness about the program through social media. We've also tweaked our program this year to speed up the refund process."

The average unclaimed property claim is usually $200 to $400, but amounts can exceed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

St. Francis Medical Center has the largest amount of unclaimed property on file in Ouachita Parish - $121,500 from a company providing kidney dialysis services and renal care products. Ron Hogan, senior vice president and regional CFO of St. Francis, said the hospital checks the unclaimed property database every year and plans on following up on this new claim.

Even the bearded celebrities of West Monroe are reaping the benefits. The program recently mailed a refund check in the amount of $174 to the Duck Commander Co. The refund came from an office supply company.

The Unclaimed Property Program collected a record $88.2 million in unclaimed property this fiscal year, making it the largest amount of unclaimed money collected in a single year in the program's 41-year history, beating the previous record by $14.5 million.

The program estimates there's around $10.5 million of unclaimed property belonging to roughly 120,000 area residents and businesses in Ouachita Parish.

Louisiana residents can search for unclaimed money online at www.latreasury.com. You must fill out a form to claim your property. Search your name, and be delighted by what you find.

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Our View: Step right up and claim what's yours

It sounds like an Internet farce. Millions of dollars are waiting for you to claim!